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“My mom has been trying to track me down through Keane. He called to let me know, thinking it was a hoax. He said she’d called a bunch of times and demanded to speak to me because she was my mom.”
My hand flies to my mouth. “What did Keane say?”
Jimmy’s told every interviewer that his mom died, and no one has ever called that into question.
“I haven’t filled him in on everything yet, but I will.” His jaw clenches. “Anyway, long story short, she wants money.”
Hate fills my chest and burns like an open sore. “I hope you told her to go fuck herself.”
“I did at first.” His voice is ominous, and it sends a chill down my spine.
“What changed?” I ask slowly.
“When she told me she’d gone back to the mountain and that people are talking, filling her in about what went down after she left.” He stares into my eyes so I understand what he’s talking about.
Of course I know what he’s talking about. I might be a druggie, but I don’t have amnesia.
I suck in a quick breath. “She doesn’t know…”
He shakes his head. “I don’t think so. But I don’t want that to change, so I’m going to pay her.”
I squeeze my eyes closed for a moment, hating that he has to do this while knowing he has no choice. It must kill him to give money to the woman who abandoned him. A woman who did nothing to help him achieve his found success.
“How much?” I whisper.
“It doesn’t matter.” He stands from the chair. “So there. Now you know.”
I stare at the floor, unsure of what I can say. Another predicament I’ve put Jimmy in. If he hadn’t… if I hadn’t… he could have told her to fuck off.
I always liked Darla—until she left her son. With an abuser who beat him more often after she left. She wasn’tmymother, but she was the only example I had of any kind of mother growing up. Sadly, I’d looked up to her.
“How can you be sure she doesn’t know?” I ask.
“Just the feeling I got.”
I bite my bottom lip and draw in short puffs of air.
Jimmy crouches in front of me with a hand on my thigh. “Lilah, it’s going to be fine. We have nothing to worry about. I’m going to pay her, and she’ll go away. End of story.”
I want to believe him. I really do. But so often in my life, things don’t go the way they should.
“Okay,” I whisper, unable to meet his eyes.
He dips his head, not accepting my dismissal. “I mean it. Don’t let this derail you. We both have good things happening for us right now. The past is far behind us.”
My eyes snap to his gaze, and I nod to appease him.
“I’m not going to let anything happen to you.” He leans forward, circling his arms around my stomach, his head falling into my lap.
I smooth my hand through his hair. The poor boy who freed himself from a life of poverty and abuse will never stop hurting.
He draws back and stares into my eyes. “Come sleep with me?”
I slide back onto the bed, pulling the covers down as an invitation.
A gentle, loving smile crosses his lips and he climbs in under my blankets. I hold him to me, his hands lazily running up and down my back, comforting me. I kiss his sweaty forehead and run my fingers through his hair. Eventually Jimmy’s breaths slow and his hands stop running along my skin.
I shut my eyes, but visions of my life on that mountain roll like a film reel through my brain with no stop in sight.
